MEN: A PLANT-BASED DIET IS MORE MASCULINE THAN EATING MEAT

For many guys, eating a diet rich in meat is seen as a reflection of their manhood, and associated with being strong and manly. I felt the same way for most of my life.

So I was really surprised to come across studies that showed that such a diet might actually have the contrary effect in the long run.

ARE YOU SUGGESTING GUYS EAT ALL FRUIT AND VEGETABLES?

Not at all. The definition of a plant-based diet is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plants. It’s a diet based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.

WHY WOULD I GIVE UP MEAT ANYWAY?

Choosing a diet heavy in fruits and veggies may help ward off chronic diseases and keep you svelte in 2017 and many years to come.

Here they are eating the meat that's going to make them macho, right? It has the opposite effect. That's not being very macho to have erectile dysfunction.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PHD and Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University

It's all about blood flow, they even say it in the Cialis, and Viagra commercials. Every man wants to improve sexual performance and stamina, but If your arteries are clogged you simply can't. While feasting on a diet of cheese, dairy, meat and other unhealthy foods, it's obvious what's going to happen to the main vein.

Dr. Pamela A. Popper, PHD, ND of The Wellness Forum

It's unquestionable that men think that they have to eat a lot of protein, but eating a plant-based diet may not be really masculine. But I'll tell you what's really not masculine, is erectile dysfunction. There is a great deal of evidence that erectile dysfunction is caused by diet in many instances.

And the reason is that if you have coronary artery disease, in one area of the body, you have it everywhere. So those very tiny blood vessels that lead to the penis, are some of the first to get effected, and so erectile dysfunction has been referred to as the canary in the coal mine. It's the sign that something is terribly wrong, and you need to fix it, and at that stage, it's much more fixable than if you've already had the heart attack, stroke or something really serious happen.